EDUCATION FOR CHANGE: A HANDBOOK FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT EDUCATION FOR CHANGE: A HANDBOOK FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT This handbook was developed by the group of authors and represents experience accumulated during the “Education for Change” project in various countries around the Baltic Sea The project was supported by the EU Comenius 2.1 Programme © Baltic University Programme Uppsala University www.balticuniv.uu.se For commercial use please contact Baltic University Programme Editors: Gitte Jutvik and Inese Liepina Design: © Ilze Ramane Printed by: “Gandrs” Printed with respect to the environment © ISBN 978-91-86189-01-3 The responsible partners are: Gdansk University; Maria Mendel Polish Ecological Club; Grazyna Wolnikowska Klaipeda University; Alona Rauckiene Kaliningrads Center for Environmental Education and Tourism; Olga Krylova Lithuanian Geography Teachers Association; Stase Alenskiene Children’s Environmental School, Latvia; Inese Liepina Tallinn University, Haapsalu College; Mall Vainola, Sirje Piht Baltic Fund for Nature, St Petersburg: Julia Danilova Helsinki University; Taina Kaivola WWF Finland; Hanna Nordström Uppsala University; Valdy Lindhe Adult Education Association; Peter Wiborn WWF Sweden; Gitte Jutvik Authors Maria Mendel, Małgorzata Puchowska, Sylwester Zielka, Iwona Sagan, Gdansk University Małgorzata Dymnicka and Katarzyna Rozmarynowska, Politechnical University in Gdańsk Grazyna Wolnikowska, Polish Ecological Club Liudmila Glushkova, I Kant Russian State University, Kaliningrad Alexey Golubytskiy, The Guide Environmental Group, Kaliningrad Alona Rauckiene, Klaipeda University, Lithuania Kaliningrad Secondary School Nr.31 Ineta Mikelsone, Vija Ziverte, Jaunpils Secondary School, Latvia Inese Liepina, Daiga Kalnina, Children’s Environmental School, Latvia Rudite Grabovska, Daugavpils University, Latvia Julia Danilova, Baltic Fund for Nature, St Petersburg Taina Kaivola, Heidi Krzywacki-Vainio, Liisa Suomela, Helsinki University Hanna Nordström, WWF Finland Valdy Lindhe, Uppsala University Peter Wiborn, Adult Education Association Gitte Jutvik, Germund Sellgren, WWF Sweden CONTENTS FOREWORD INTRODUCTION: NO-ONE WANTS AN UN-SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT! CHAPTER 1: SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 2: EDUCATION FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 19 CHAPTER 3: METHODS 35 CHAPTER 4: PRACTICAL EXAMPLES 46 FOREWORD This is a handbook for educators by educators and is intended as a practical handbook for teaching sustainable development It’s intended for teachers and student teachers as well as capacity building for experienced educators The examples and methods described in the handbook have been tested, evaluated and developed to make sustainable development both visible and achievable As our overall aim is to encourage, support and contribute to an ongoing dialogue about how skills, commitment and action competence on sustainable development among children and youth can be developed, we see this handbook as providing practical support rather than as a textbook The Education for Change team represents organisations and universities in the Baltic Sea region Many of us have been cooperating for more than ten years in the education project Naturewatch Baltic – a project designed to help and encourage teachers and students to actively participate in sustainable development Naturewatch Baltic also arranges workshops for educators and people involved with nature conservation The experiences gained and the needs expressed in this context have inspired us to create this Education for Change handbook It is our sincere hope that you will find it useful Gitte Jutvik Editor WWF Sweden INTRODUCTION: NO-ONE WANTS AN UN-SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT! “Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need, but not every man’s greed” Mahatma Gandhi At the time of writing more than billion people live on planet Earth If every single human being in the world was to enjoy the same lifestyle and the same pattern of consumption that we have in the Baltic Sea region we would need the equivalent of two extra planets Continuing to exploit the Earth at the present rate does not bode well for the future But many of us believe that we have a choice and can make a difference One of the ways of getting the message across is to help our children to understand that there are limits to this exploitation, and that if we act now there is hope Not only we need to act for our common future, but also for our physical health Social researchers have shown that when children acquire knowledge and guidance about the problems and possibilities they are much better equipped to see the future much more optimistically than children with little idea about these things Education for sustainable development is therefore closely connected to young people’s lives and futures and must be given the highest priority Teachers and school personnel need to be trained in such matters and acquire the necessary skills and competence, while governments need to provide resources for research into suitable teaching methods and content Above all, education for sustainable development must be regarded as a serious pedagogical challenge Although environmental subjects and courses have been an integral part of formal education since the 1960s, this has not been sufficient A greater need for new perspectives has led to the United Nations (UN) proclaiming a ten-year plan, from 2005 to 2015, for education for a sustainable development The aim of Education for Change is to help to make this UN decade a practical reality But what is Education for Change and what are the aims? Education for Change, also known as EduC, is a project designed to help teachers and educators to include and work with the concept of sustainable development in their education The aim of education for sustainable development is to provide learners with a holistic approach so that they are equipped with the necessary tools and thinking and can thereby make a difference Such an approach does not only call for the efforts of individual teachers but for the efforts of all teachers Teamwork is called for! For development and training among colleagues our recommendation is to use the EduC Study Circle method Details about this method – together with other resources, information about courses and activities and how to get involved – can be found on the Education for Change website www.balticuniv.uu.se/educ/ The Education for Change Handbook for Teaching and Learning Sustainable Development handbook is available in Estonian, Finnish, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, Russian, Swedish and English and consists of four separate chapters, outlined in brief below Throughout the text you will find Reflection Boxes These are intended for teacher discussions and to stimulate a better understanding of the various topics Exercises and activities are also provided in the handbook as resources and inspiration Chapter 1: Sustainable Development looks at why we need to consider sustainable develop¬ment, what sustainable development is and entails and how we might best explore and – if possible – measure it In this chapter you will find descriptions and definitions, a brief history and relevant viewpoints about issues related to sustainable development Chapter 2: Education for Sustainable Development ESD discusses the basis of knowledge and attempts to explain and clarify our view of education for sustainable development Here we also look at the knowledge and skills that are needed and why, and possibilities for progress Chapter 3: Methods investigates the ESD methods that are available and the circumstances in which they might be used Here we present methods for pedagogical work with values, critical thinking, problem-solving and action competences Chapter 4: Practical Examples provides a number of teaching and learning resources on sustainability issues These are intended as inspiration You can also add your own ideas and create your own “pedagogical tool box”! The long-term aim of this journey is to have as good a life as possible without hurting or harming other fellow humans or living beings CHAPTER SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT THE CONCEPT OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT Melting glaciers, toxins in blood and breast milk, 50 percent fewer species of butterflies, rising temperatures, a Baltic Sea with a reduced cod population, dying sea bottoms … the list is endless How is it that we in the rich western world over-consume while poverty prevails in other parts of the world? How can we possibly solve all the problems relating to inequality and a reduced biological diversity? The questions are many and, despite the fact that we are well educated and informed, the answers are far from obvious Figure Approximately 1/3 of the Earth’s population consumes 2/3 of the Earth’s resources We all know that human beings have basic needs, such as food, shelter, clothing, health, education, etc But the life support systems have to operate without being over-burdened either by our withdrawal of resources or our discharges of waste and pollution Neither should we forget the cultural and emotional aspects of human life Sustainability requires that society and nature are viewed holistically Different examples, events and reports convince us that the Earth is over-burdened Almost everyone agrees that something has to be done But not everybody agrees on what changes need to be made, how these changes ought to take place and which areas need to be immediately addressed It is increasingly clear that drastic changes are necessary; changes that also include economic and social reform But rather than single-mindedly concentrating on waste and pollution, we also need to focus on adopting new principles for consumption, production and distribution A holistic approach that includes all these things reflects a real sustainable development The aim of the UN decade is to ensure that “education for sustainable development is practiced in schools and other educational establishments in order to highlight the central role that education and l earning play in the common pursuit of sustainable development and that quality education is a prerequisite for education for sustainable development at all levels and in all aspects of education” Sustainability requires that all angles are considered Typically, the overuse of a resource is first experienced as a burden on the environment in terms of its waste products, such as an excess of CO2 or eutrophication due to an overuse of phosphates Answers to the question about how we ought to deal with environmental problems seldom get to the root of the problem, that is, the way our societies work Sustainable development can be understood from different points of view Some people see it as a journey or an ongoing process within the limits of ecological frameworks The long-term aim of this journey is to have as good a life as possible without hurting or harming other fellow humans or living beings In the same spirit democracy is very much a part of sustainable development Agenda 21 (UN, 1992) emphasises participatory democracy, which means that decisions are made and implemented in cooperation with ordinary citizens like you and me This is another aspect of the ethics of justice So, to summarise, sustainable development can be considered as a sort of journey or direction and needs to be thought about or reflected upon In Chapter we look at some of the ways in which the concept of sustainable development can be developed in an educational context Reflection Box – Sustainable Development What are people’s basic needs? Do they also include the desire to travel, equip our homes with beautiful furniture and flat screen TV’s? Who decides and makes priorities when resources are limited? How would you describe and explain the concepts of sustainable development and sustainability? Write down your own understanding and discuss them with your colleagues Why is sustainable development so important right now? A brief historical background to sustainable development At the beginning of the 1960s the time was ripe for a wide social debate relating to the environment Rachael Carson’s book “Silent Spring” (1962) was a wake-up call The connection between the death of the species of birds known as Yellowhammers and an increased use of mercury-enriched seeds formed the basis of her book During the 1960s society felt the need to something about the existing environmental problems Technology was introduced to clean chimneys and sewage pipes, for example The first international environmental conference was organised by the UN and held in Stockholm in 1972, during which the western world’s environmental problems were discussed The conclusion was that scientists, experts and technology would solve these problems It was not something that ordinary people needed to worry about But people didn’t accept this and in the 1970s they started to get more and more involved in environmental organisations and pressure groups People became very concerned and active and put pressure on the politicians to something Germany also started to press for the wide use of the precautionary principle1 and initiated a discussion about the connection between social, economic and environmental problems The economical aspect is introduced nowadays The actual concept of sustainable development emerged in the 1980s in response to a growing realisation about the need to balance economic and social progress with a concern for the environment and stewardship of the Earth’s natural resources The concept became more widespread with the publication of “Our Common Future” by the World Commission on Environment and Development in 1987 In this publication the Commission defined sustainable development as a “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” In other words, although development may be necessary to satisfy human needs and improve the quality of life, it should occur in such a way that the capacity of the natural environment to meet present and future needs is not compromised This understanding of sustainable development has, however, been translated and interpreted differently in different contexts Twenty years after the Stockholm conference the UN again raised the environmental question, this time on a global stage and with a focus on the 21st century The UN conference on Environment and Development held in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro resulted in Agenda 21, with guidelines as to how the world’s governments, councils and important social groups should introduce development in the 21st century without damaging the environment The message from the Rio Conference was that both rich and poor countries have their different environmental problems and that in many cases unsustainable development is a result of people’s ideas about lifestyles Problems and conflicts are not always locally visible but are often based on a combination of local and global agreements and requirements Chapter 36 of Agenda 21 (UN, 1992) directly addresses education These initiatives need to be developed In many countries schools and universities now have to include education for sustainable development in their educational curricula Baltic 21’s Education Sector is actively working to support the implementation of education for sustainable development in all the Baltic Sea region countries The importance of education for sustainable development was already emphasised in 1977 In this year the first international initiative was taken in Georgia, at that time part of the Soviet Union, when The Tbilisi Declaration was unanimously adopted at the end of a conference on EE in that city The declaration noted the unanimous support for environmental education that would help to preserve and improve the world’s environment and encourage a sound and balanced development of the world’s communities The role of the 2002 Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development to promote ESD is important here in that it promoted Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) as a key concept in its plan of implementation The UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-1014) was decided on later that same year by the UN General Assembly The decade is monitored by UNESCO, has a global vision and aims towards a world in which everybody will have the opportunity to benefit from quality education and learn the values, behaviour and lifestyles required for a sustainable future and for positive societal transformation The aim of the decade is to ensure that “education for sustainable development is practiced in schools and other educational establishments in order to highlight the central The precautionary principle (Leal Filho, 2000) is a moral and political principle which states that if an action or policy might cause severe or irreversible harm to the public, in the absence of a scientific consensus that harm would not ensue, the burden of proof falls on those who would advocate taking the action My fantastic journey around the Baltic Sea The best way of learning is to build on your own experiences rather than rely on books We know that this is not always possible, however In this exercise students work with traditional books, maps and the internet, although in an active rather than a passive way The idea is that you will travel around the Baltic Sea area You start from your home town and travel in pairs During the journey you will pass, visit or the following: • All the Baltic Sea countries • Dive with an experienced diver • Write a short poem about the city’s statue • Go fishing in a stream • Find out how houses are heated • Visit two islands • Go out to sea in a fishing boat • Tell an inquisitive journalist about the teaching in your school • Write your name in Russian • Study life on a beach or in a meadow • Visit an industry • Solve a problem • Explore three capital cities • Draw the city’s church tower • Travel by bus and talk to the person sitting beside you • Eat the country’s typical dishes • Draw an impressive building • Study a breeding bird at close quarters • Travel through an old forest • Meet three animals; one of which should be a furry animal • Find out which names are common boys’ and girls’ names in the country you visit • Interview a Prime Minister • Be able to say “Hello!” or “My name is….” in three languages You can decide whether you are going to travel westwards or eastwards around the Baltic Sea area Draw your journey on a map Tell others about your journey Make your Baltic Sea journey as interesting and enjoyable to read about as possible! Östersjögrannar, WWF Positive developments –examining different suggestions The aim of this exercise is for the students to form an opinion about different perspectives relating to community development and to prioritise and discuss these different alternatives The EU allocates funds for different development projects in the Baltic Sea region A discussion exercise is outlined below in which different organisations and government authorities within the EU area try to attract support for their projects The projects are outlined below Method • Working individually the students pick out the three most important projects they think should be supported At this stage there shouldn’t be any discussion between the students – this will come later • Form small groups and allocate imaginary EU funds to a maximum of six projects Support the motivation for support in writing • Now that the allocations are complete you are presented with a problem Due to changes in the EU budget it has been decided that only half of the funds can be allocated this year The task now is to re-allocate the funds to only three of the projects 59 Imagine that you are in a group that will allocate 25 million Euro to development projects in one of the countries in the Baltic Sea region How does your group allocate the funds to the following projects? A sewage-treatment plant that cleans waste water from large towns and cities so it does not pollute waterways, lakes and our common sea A modern fishing fleet with enough effective equipment to catch fish in other seas in order to reduce fishing in the Baltic Sea An education project to provide new teachers with more knowledge about sustainable development and how to use this knowledge in their teaching A technical high school to train engineers to develop and strengthen the country’s industrial base so that consumers will be able to buy high quality products and sufficient income will be generated from exports A gas pipeline from Eastern Russia to replace oil and coal, thus reducing carbon dioxide emissions A programme for sustainable development based on renewable natural resources A crime fighting programme to free the country from crime, drug abuse and AIDS Better roads, railways, harbours and airlines that enable our country to develop into a modern and prosperous society A development programme for small-scale employment so that people living in small villages and towns can support themselves without having to move to large cities with all their environmental and crime-based problems 10 A dairy that produces butter, cheese and other dairy products from milk supplied by local farmers rather than having to rely on imported foodstuffs Östersjögrannar, WWF Life Cycle thinking The Life Cycle concept is an approach to thinking about processes, products and services It recognises that all life cycle stages have environmental, social and economic impacts This activity gives participants the opportunity to engage in dialogue with each other and contribute actively – Make an assessment of products from two different producers, e.g cheese, oil, juice, shrimps, T-shirts, paper Compare two products in terms of their environmental impact and make an analysis and life cycle of this product in terms of the extraction and processing of raw materials, manufacturing, transportation and distribution, use/ reuse and recycling and waste management and the environmental and economic impacts – Make a recommendation which includes an assessment of just how sustainable each product is and how it could be made more sustainable – Discuss other effects, such as ethics, social, economic aspects and also personal, local and global perspectives What does Life Cycle thinking mean for me personally, for me as teacher, or as a citizen of our planet? How these activities impact consumers, producers and authorities? Rudite Grabovska, Daugavpils University, Latvia 60 Critical thinking about food This exercise is designed to develop critical thinking skills and practice expressing an opinion based on values and facts The students answer the questions for each product individually Although they not have to write anything down they have to be able to formulate and express their arguments to others Why will I buy this product (banana, cutlet, bread…) ? Why won’t I buy this product (banana, cutlet, bread…)? When the students have worked out their answers to these questions they should discuss their responses in small groups The teacher can also ask spontaneous questions, for example: What is the most important feature of your decision? The price, how the product has been produced, how long it takes to cook, others? You can also use values clarification in conjunction with the four corners exercise (see page 38) It won’t be long before genetically modified (GMO) food arrives on our plates and tables Some people think that this will solve our planet’s food problems, while others think that genetically modified food is a threat to the world Students are divided into groups and gather information about GMO food After preparing themselves by collecting information from articles, the internet, etc., each group describes: Why we will buy this banana, cutlet, bread…! Why we will not buy this banana, cutlet, bread…!! If the group members have different opinions they should also say what they are and give reasons You can exchange GMO food with Spanish tomatoes, take away salad, mango fruit, cod etc Ineta Mikelsone, Jaunpils Secondary School, Latvia Different kinds of agriculture Use this structure for organising discussions to develop critical thinking skills and promote the students’ understanding As consumers we often buy food or other goods But we know how food is produced and how it gets to the shops and our plates? Where have the crops been grown? Where has the cutlet been born and reared? How far has it travelled? What does it give in terms of nutrients and energy and what does this cost the environment? As consumers we are able to affect the way in which food is produced by buying or not buying the product When we buy products that have been produced in an environmentally-friendly way we encourage farmers to use more environmentally-friendly technologies Try this exercise: The teacher divides the students into five groups Each group makes a shopping list for one week Students then present their shopping lists and decide on one common list The same groups then work with all the texts listed below and discuss the various possibilities The class then forms new groupings and each group works with the common 61 shopping list decided on in step They are asked to prioritise the items on the list with regard to ecological, economic and social sustainability Display the prioritised shopping lists and discuss them in class Continuation work: Study menus from the school canteen and local restaurants and write an article to the local newspaper about the importance of buying, cooking and eating organically and sustainably For homework Students are asked to identify and assess agricultural development tendencies in the local community A Intensive agriculture means producing more in a shorter time This process is highly mechanised and uses considerable amounts of chemicals Global corporations often carry out such intensive agriculture in underdeveloped countries in order to make bigger profits More often than not the environmental and social standards or regulations in these poorer countries are not as strict as those in developed western countries As a result of this production often leads to pollution and damage to the environment In addition, the workers are paid very low salaries and are not provided with protective clothing when spraying dangerous chemicals or pesticides on the crops The use of too many artificial fertilizers also leads to the land becoming more and more impoverished – and to nitrogen, phosphorous and other nutrients being washed out of the soil and accumulating in lakes and seas This latter effect, also known as eutrophication, is a real environmental problem in the Baltic Sea B Guidance for fruit buyers Imported fruit: In order to ensure that fruit will stay fresh and remain in good condition in the shops: • pesticides are used 8-15 times during the growing season • after harvesting the fruit is treated with fungicide • the fruit is then processed with antioxidants during storage so that it keeps its colour • before being sold the fruit is processed with wax so that it will stay as fresh as possible for as long as possible Fruit that has been processed in this way will stay fresh for about 20-30 days Local fruit: Pesticides are used about 3-5 times or even less during the growing season After harvesting the fruit needs to be stored in cool conditions As the fruit has not been treated with pesticides it stays fresh in the supermarket for about 5-7 days Organically grown fruit: In organic agriculture pesticides are not used at all Instead natural antagonists (like insects or birds) are used Good light and air circulation is very important for fruit grown in this way C About animal ethics Everyone needs food – this is part of life But getting food and meat to our tables is not always straightforward and can include a range of different problems Here are a few examples: Antibiotics against your wishes Intensive meat production is only possible with the use of antibiotics On large farms the animals are often prone to disease and the only way these diseases can be kept in check is by using antibiotics When we eat the meat we also (often unknowingly) eat a lot of antibiotics as well! The life of a bullock A bullock is taken away from its mother a few days after birth and kept in conditions that help to make its flesh soft and tender On organic farms the animals live together all the time, graze in the meadows and live as natural a life as possible Chicken factories 62 Did you know that chickens are usually fattened in about 33 - 47 days? They are fed with food containing antibiotics and are kept in small cages The overpowering smell of ammonia on these farms often leads to the chickens going blind and developing respiratory diseases On organic farms hens and chickens are free to roam in the meadows and eat properly balanced and natural food D Happy flowers to the happy man/woman Sixty percent of flowers exported from the Netherlands are actually grown in under-developed countries like Kenya, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Ecuador and Columbia Flight costs from these countries are very cheap and flowers grown here need less energy in comparison with those grown in the Netherlands For example, growing 65 roses in Kenya uses the same amount of energy as growing roses in the Netherlands Kenya has enough solar energy to grow roses efficiently Savings are also made on salaries – a worker’s salary in the Netherlands is equal to 38 percent of the cost of the flowers, whereas in Kenya this is only percent! Cost of rose salary of a Kenyan cent chemicals 1.5 cents plants cents profit 3.5 cents losses cents packaging 1.5 cents transport to the airport cents agent’s commission 3.5 cents money, which stays in Kenya 23 cents import costs cents flight costs cents wholesale costs 17 cents retail price (100 %) 50 cents selling price 1.00 EUR E Organic agriculture Organic agriculture is sustainable because it is based on an understanding and use of natural processes Organically grown products are produced using natural methods – not by using chemicals but by relying on the warmth and light of the sun, a rich soil, water and micro-organisms In an organic system having a rich and fertile soil – created by adding organic compost or green or animal manure – that also feeds the plants is very important Local varieties of plants and animals should be grown or reared in order to maintain biological diversity Vija Ziverte, Jaunpils Secondary School, Latvia Together we can change! Small changes mean a lot and make a difference Combine your efforts and use maths to show that small changes by only one person can make a lot of difference Try this experiment Brush your teeth with the tap running At the same time, ask another person to fill empty milk or other containers with the running water until you’ve finished brushing your teeth Make a note of how many milk or other containers have been filled Then use this information to work out how much water your family uses when brushing their teeth Multiply this by the number of family members in the class, inhabitants in your com- 63 munity, inhabitants in the country, inhabitants in the Baltic Sea region, etc., and work how much water is wasted just by people brushing their teeth! What about when people brush their teeth with warm water that has to be heated with fuel or electricity? How much energy is wasted then? There is also a problem with waste water Lots of toxins and nutrients are washed or flushed into our water systems without being properly or efficiently cleansed or processed Some detergents used for washing clothes and dishes contain phosphates Find out what kind of cleaning materials and detergents your family uses Ask your family to consider changing to cleaning materials and detergents that not contain phosphates! No climate change, sustainable use of energy The school is “an institution that teaches” Materials are used in a sustainable way The management of buildings and surroundings is an integral part of education Find out how much electricity/fuel is used in your school and for what purpose Make a note of the daily electricity readings during the course of one week, if possible taking the readings at the same time each day Decide to have an energy saving week Select days of the week on which you will try to use electricity/fuel economically, i.e turn off the lights when they are not necessary, keep the windows closed to avoid heat loss, etc – Where you get your electricity/fuel from? – When did you use the least electricity/fuel? – What was the reason for that? – When did you use electricity/fuel most? Why? Calculate the average amount of electricity/fuel you use in a year How much money does it cost the taxpayer? Calculate the total cost of electricity used during the chosen energy saving week The topic is How to reduce the Ecological Footprint in our school Include the indicators for success in your report as well The EduC team Sustainable and aesthetic A deeper awareness of school practices and challenges relating to sustainable development gave rise to a broad cooperation, first of all with parents and later with the entire community This example describes an action for improving environmental awareness and improving the aesthetics of our surroundings Pupils prepared coloured medals and them on the fences of the most sustainable and aesthetic houses The activity was undertaken in cooperation with the local commune Nebrowo Wielkie, Zespół School, Poland Students initiated a new organisation This activity requires the cooperation of teachers, students and parents and contact with local governing councils This brief example is based on some of the ESD cornerstones outlined on page 27 In June the students marked out a 40 kilometre long pathway Additionally, and due to our students’ creativity and involvement, a museum was established One of the key issues in the programme was the initiation of cooperation with organisations, institutions and legal entities, all of which provided financial support for the renovation of the museum’s rooms The students contacted all the region’s schools in order to set up a Cycling Lovers Association The idea behind the association is to take care of existing cycle tracks as well as undertake repair work before the onset of the tourist season Jolanta Abramowska, Tadeusz Kościuszko School, Poland 64 Reducing our use of energy This process-oriented exercise teaches students to communicate and prioritise the economic, social and ecological aspects of a reduction of energy at an individual level The use of fictitious characters and an unexpected change indicates that this activity has been inspired by Storyline (see page 44 for further details of this process) The teacher should provide the story’s framework Each student creates a character and gives him/her a name, age, address and occupation They also decide on the number of family members and write a short story about the character with a focus on energy: transport, heating, leisure and holidays… Each student introduces the character they have created to the whole class or in small groups Without telling your students you (the teacher) pick out one of the characters to be the sender of a formal request from a fictitious or real organisation Do not tell anyone about this in advance! Pretend that you’ve just found the letter of your desk or a colleague has just given it to you This character (Stina Jung) then invites other characters to join the organisation and sign a contract where they promise to reduce the amount of energy they use by 50 percent Contract In order to reduce climate change and pollution/Ecological Footprint on Earth we, the representatives of the international organisation Students for Sustainability SfS have decided, in accordance with the Kyoto Protocol, to: Reduce our use of energy by 50 percent within five years Resolution passed at the annual general meeting of SFS 17/5/2008 Stina Jung, Chairperson SFS The Kyoto Protocol relates to the international Framework Convention on Climate Change with the objective of reducing greenhouse gases that cause climate change It was agreed on 11 December 1997 at the 3rd Conference of the Parties to the treaty when they met in Kyoto, and came into force on 16 February 2005 As of November 2007, 174 parties have ratified the protocol 65 – Would you like to become a member of the association and sign the contract? – Those of you who have signed the contract have five years in which to reduce your consumption of energy How you plan to this? If you (i.e your character) sign the contract to reduce your consumption of energy by 50 percent, how will your life need to change? What will you have to do? Will this result in changes in social welfare and the economy, and if so what kind of changes will these be? Make a plan of action for your fictitious character If you (i.e your character) choose not to sign the contract state why you don’t want to sign Write an article in which your character explains why he or she doesn’t want or need to reduce the use of energy What might be done instead to avoid climate change? Motivate your reasoning! Gitte Jutvik,Vitalisskolan, Trosa, Sweden Walking with your food glasses on! In this exercise the learner pays attention to objects in the neighbourhood associated with the consumption and production of food Put your “food glasses on”! Walk with your friends or classmates around the school environment and collect impressions What kinds of things remind you of food? Perhaps you will see: Fields of wheat or rye that can be used for making bread An empty tin can lying in the ditch that someone has carelessly thrown away A lorry transporting milk from a farm to the dairy Someone carrying shopping bags on his or her way home from the supermarket A cow that makes us think about a breakfast of bread with cheese and butter A lake, the sea or fish The sea, a ship loaded with bananas from South America A cat hunting mice Animal droppings An apple tree A leaf eaten by a caterpillar Food on Sustainable way I, WWF Pedagogical Greenhouse An activity organised in cooperation with a botanical garden Organising a suitable environment for learning is very important Although the classroom is useful for certain activities, learning in direct contact with nature and society is much better in the context of education for sustainable development The following activity is about climate change and the possibilities of reducing this by making wise, everyday choices Botanical gardens are very energy-consuming constructions and their educational potential is not always used effectively Gardenia Botanical Garden organised a theme week entitled “Are we able to save the snowy winters?” The tropical, enjoyable atmosphere of the botanical garden was used as a motivating learning environment for teaching and learning about climate change Every school class that took part spent a two-hour learning period in the garden consisting of an introduction to the theme, pupils’ own explorations in the garden, a summing up and a brainstorm about possible ideas and solutions 66 The introduction was given in drama style: “An expert” wearing a white laboratory coat explained the causes of climate change while her assistant interrupted the session with all sorts of everyday tasks related to climate change (the excess use of electronic equipment, heating, travelling and eating habits) After the introduction the students walked an exploratory trail that had been set up in the botanical garden This trail consisted of eight treasure chests or boxes hidden amongst the vegetation and the students had to walk around the garden in order to find the boxes In every box the students found a question and three alternative answers The questions were about everyday life choices, such as how travel, sport, consumer products and eating habits affect climate change The answers were printed on pieces of jigsaw puzzle The students had to decide, for example, what they would give their friend as a birthday present The alternatives were a DVD film, a T-shirt or a ticket to a rock concert Before choosing they had to consider which one of the alternatives was the most climate-friendly When they had decided they took their preferred answer – written on a jigsaw puzzle piece – out of the box After finding all the eight boxes they ended up with eight puzzle pieces The trail was put together in such a way that if the pupils made the best choices they ended up with a puzzle illustrating a beautiful snowy winter in Finland If their choices were of the “mediocre” variety their puzzle instead showed the picture of a flood If all their choices were the worst ones imaginable their puzzle was a picture of severe drought and famine Of course, most of the groups had answers from all three categories, which meant that their puzzle picture was a mixture of these three photos After the activity the results were discussed by the whole group and students then had an opportunity to reconsider their choices and question the outcomes If groups had conflicting views on, for example, whether a DVD or a T-shirt was better for the climate, different aspects of the products’ life cycle (buying from a flea market, downloading from the internet, etc) were examined further Every class was provided with the calculations and explanations used to determine the respective prioritising of choices in each case Students were also encouraged to search the internet for more in-depth answers At the end of the session a brainstorm was organised in order to generate new ideas about how students can reduce climate change through their everyday activities These ideas were collected and compiled at the end of the theme week and sent to all the participating schools Students then arranged displays or school radio broadcasts on these themes Hanna Nordström, WWF and Gardenia-Helsinki Botanical Garden, Finland Reflection Box Practical Examples How would you make the example above more learner and process oriented? Refer to the ESD perspectives and Roadmap on pages 27 to help you with this exercise Sustainable thinking and bridge construction In this activity problem-solving, techniques, a choice of material based on social, environmental, economic and aesthetic aspects and the learning process are all in focus Your assignment is to build a bridge across a waterway somewhere in the world For this you need to think about durability, environment, safety, economy and aesthetics 67 The school is a natural partner in sustainable development in society and requested by different stakeholders Imagine the place and history behind the building of the bridge: What the water and surroundings look like in the place chosen for the bridge? Why is the bridge being built? Who is going to use it? Who has decided to build it and who is going to pay for it? Build your imaginary bridge between two milk or other containers Use building materials from the “store” of materials listed below Each building material and how much it costs is listed separately to help you in your calculations Note that you have to limit your spending to a budget of 30 RON The “actual bridge” is ready! Make a drawing of the bridge on its opening day and write a newspaper article about it in which you stress the environmental effects, and describe interference with the eco-system, the material chosen, transport, people’s opinions, etc Make a financial account of the materials used to build your bridge, as chosen from the list below The currency is called Ronork, or RON The budget is 30 RON Planks (cut from milk cartons, x cm) RON per plank Pipes (straws) RON Beams (spaghetti) RON Cement (clay) RON Support poles RON/pole Frames (matchsticks) ½ RON Wire (string) RON/dm Gitte Jutvik, Vitalisskolan, Sweden Reflect – Design – Act! This is a structure used to help students design a realistic work plan from the investigation to the action stage The mapping of problem areas Brainstorm the problems of a particular topic* Encourage everyone in the class to participate in order to generate the maximum number of ideas possible Analyse and prioritise the brainstormed ideas Identify four specific problem areas Stakeholders and an action plan Set realistic goals, define how to achieve them and disseminate the results Identify the stakeholders Design a coordinated system: identify what is desirable or not desirable and what is probable or not probable Decision-making by consensus Outline the action plans using concrete ideas and specific scenarios Rudite Grabovska, Daugavpils University, Latvia * How to reduce the Ecological Footprint in our school test the structure in the above activity of Reflect – Design – Act! In this exercise include ideas about what you and the students can 68 Our seashore Adopt about 3-500 metres of a river bank or seashore and take care of it It will surely “thank” you by its surprising and unique beauty “The adopted area of coastline or river bank” will be very glad to see you and taking care of it will reward you with good health and happiness Take photos of your site and make drawings of it Write poems about it and pay attention to its positive and negative aspects Use the Naturewatch Baltic survey to learn more about your shoreline and stretch of water See the references on page 34 for more information about this Discuss the results with your group How would you describe the present situation of the coastal zone? Who is responsible for looking after the coastal zone and keeping it in good condition? What exactly they have formal or informal responsibility for? – – – – – – Local municipalities Tourists; foreigners, locals, nature lovers National government EU or other countries Companies, shop owner, farmers, fishermen Others Who? Sit on your beach and watch the waves and listen What ideas are the waves whispering to you? Try to guess what this area of beach or water might have looked like when your parents were your age Ask your parents and teachers if they can remember and write down their answers Now think about the future What might happen to you and your site in 25 years time? What will you and your site look like then? How might your life have changed and how might the coastal conditions have changed? Work in teams and prepare short reports using the results of your research and discussions Each team then appoints a spokesperson and tells the class what your group discovered Each group has a maximum of minutes in which to make their oral reports The reports can be creative and original! Olga Glushkova, I Kant Kaliningrad State University, Russia Action Tadpole As a teacher you often come into contact with some kind of conflict This topic is taken from real life and was initiated by the students themselves When students are motivated to act in this way the potentials for teaching and learning are considerable It was a hot summer, and the lake had gradually been drying out Schoolchildren from the summer camp “Vodokanal” discovered that tadpoles were unable to get from the shallow ditch to the stream and were dying as a result The students and their teacher decided to prepare a management plan for rational water use among local water organisations and thereby help to save the lives of amphibians like tadpoles This “Lovely Tadpole” action included lectures on amphibian life and outdoor investigations The media and people responsible for nature conservation were also involved Julia Danilova, Baltic Fund for Nature, St Petersburg, Russia 69 Parents as partners As education for sustainable development deals with values and attitudes it is therefore reasonable to involve parents as a way of continuing the work at home Meeting and developing positive links with parents and between parents is important and can help to strengthen school activities The following activity is an excellent way for parents, teachers and pupils to spend time together and learn In this particular course the ecological, social and economic aspects of sustainability were taken into account and it was such a hit that another course is already being planned The school has its own vegetable garden, which is a very important part of its ideology and identity The participants were able to improve their organic gardening and farming practices both in their school activities and with their parents Käpylä School, Helsinki Finland Challenge your friends In his publication, Pedagogy of Work, the famous French educationalist, Célestin Freinet, put a high value on work as meaningful learning His pedagogy is also appropriate for the realisation of ESD During the “Sustainability Week by Week” project teachers and pupils challenged each other to take action towards sustainability In the school’s radio broadcast every Monday morning one class would challenge another class They might, for example, ask students to avoid using private cars and walk, cycle or take the bus to school The challenges could also be about saving electricity, not wasting food, having good manners, being nice to fellow students, helping older people, etc In this project all the dimensions of sustainability were taken into account through different kinds of challenges One class rose to the challenges by trying to their best in the different areas every day They made notes about their changed behaviour and summed this up at the end of the week They then challenged another class in another area of sustainability on the following Monday Other members of the school community were also invited to take part in each week’s sus¬tainability actions and to make changes in their behaviour or lifestyles Puistola School, Helsinki Finland Reflection Practical Examples Compare three well-known pedagogues and find out in which ways they could be used as spokespeople for ESD Car owners learn from students Challenge your students to assume the role of teachers They will have to prepare for this so that in their positions as educators they will be able to develop their students’ values and interest A similar effect is gained by asking older students to involving younger students in common activities Sixteen year old students were involved in a campaign that aimed to improve car-owners’ 70 knowledge about how their driving techniques and the condition of their car affected the environment The idea was to help car-owners to regularly check and adjust the air-pressure in their car tyres in order to reduce their fuel consumption and thereby reduce their CO2 emissions We also wanted some of the car-owners to participate in eco-driving courses Research has shown that if you increase the air pressure in your car’s tyres by 10-15% of the amount stated in the car´s instruction manual you will reduce your fuel consumption by approximately 5% The students took part in a climate change course dealing with cars and emissions, tyres and tyre pressures and how to work with information in a campaign The students then worked at petrol stations in teams of 3-6 for several weekends They recorded statistics about their work and talked to a lot of car-owners The success factors in this activity included: • • • • The inspiration and joy of the students The strong connection between theory and practice The cooperation between organisations, local authorities and companies The support of educators and marketing experts, and, most important of all, the feeling of doing something real for the environment Peter Wiborn, SV, Sweden Press conference – one way of reporting Let’s assume that the class has been working for some time with energy, the Baltic region’s history or another similar theme and are expected to give an account of their knowledge and comment on its content The students may also have produced pictures or drawings The class has also had a short course in journalism in which they have had to write a variety of articles, discuss the reasons for holding a press conference and how this is arranged They might also have produced a press release As a result of this training each student feels prepared and secure in their role both as an expert and as a journalist The class is now divided into an expert group and a journalist group Experts in the same field prepare a presentation by agreeing on key words The journalists require time to prepare and allocate the questions One representative from each group of experts gives a short presentation, possibly with pictures, for the journalists The journalists take notes and ask additional questions After the first press conference the groups change roles At the end of the second and final press conference each student works with the acquired material and develops it into an editorial column in which they argue their respective viewpoints This method of reporting means that everybody both repeats and develops new material based on their opinions, their previous knowledge and experience of the press conferences, and presents this orally to the whole group and in writing in the form of an editorial From Östersjögrannar, WWF, Svanberg and Jutvik 71 Teachers use methods that develop students understanding in structured ways As a final “afterword” we hope that you and your colleagues have found this education for sustainable development handbook useful We have tried to include information and exercises that teachers and student teachers will find both inspiring and of use in their ESD teaching We also hope that teachers and students will be inspired to create their own information and activities and above all to “practice what they preach” Good luck! [...]...role that education and learning play in the common pursuit of sustainable development and that quality education is a prerequisite for education for sustainable development at all levels and in all aspects of education Reflection Box 2 Sustainable Development 1 1 Does your country have a different historical background to the sustainable development described here? What is similar and what is different... is also a useful leaning resource as well as a source of fresh flowers and vegetables The main thing here is to be realistic and make realistic plans to create and maintain a sustainable school Involve the students in both the planning and the implementation Ask others in the community for assistance and resources, and invite parents and companies to cooperate Learning about and acting in sustainable. .. other interested parties A school where education for sustainable development is well developed is also seen as an important stakeholder in establishing a practical and local sustainable development A well-planned cooperation like that suggested above creates a win-win situation both for teaching and learning and society’s democratic processes Reflection Box 2 Education for Sustainable Development 1 How... productive and responsible members of society A fundamental prerequisite for sustainable development is an adequately financed and effective educational system at all levels, particularly the primary and secondary levels, that is accessible to all and that augments both human capacity and well-being The core themes of education for sustainability include lifelong learning, interdisciplinary education, partnerships,... 3 Education for Sustainable Development 1 Democracy is essential for sustainable development! What are the advantages and disadvantages of democracy when it comes to achieving sustainability? Do we have time for democracy? Are there “short cuts” to sustainability, and if so, what might these be? 2 In what ways can education and the school environment help children to actively participate in sustainable. .. Roadmap and planning and assessment methods and give hints on how to avoid some of the obstacles and pitfalls Ecology, Environmental Education and Education for Sustainable Development Education for sustainable development has different backgrounds in different countries Some people regard ESD as following on from EE and including additional issues of ethics, equity and new ways of thinking and learning. .. cultural, social and economical aspects Reflection Box 1 Education for Sustainable Development This handbook is ESD-oriented, although most of the examples we have included originate from ecology Select some of the activities from Chapter 4 and analyse in what way they are EE and in what way ESD Teaching for sustainable development Education increases human welfare and is a decisive factor in enabling people... different ways of learning and lots of different ways of teaching! Education for Sustainable Development – perspectives and progress In this section we focus on how to teach education for sustainable development and how to assist learners achieve specific or set goals We also expand education somewhat and identify support systems within the school environment What kinds of pedagogical and didactical approaches... more detail in order to identify action competences and skills, and conclude by identifying the best places for teaching and learning Overall objective The main objective of education for sustainable development is that everybody should acquire the relevant knowledge and be motivated to work for and practice sustainable development Education for sustainable development can be seen as an overall perspective... Sustainability has to be integrated, which means that it should be broad and all-inclusive “The Chair of Sustainable Development (Macer, 2004), is a handy comparison that aids both memory and understanding This chair of sustainable development has four connected ‘legs’ of sustainability and all four legs have to be included in policy and management for sustainable development If one leg is over-emphasised,